This invention relates to a user interface display apparatus for operating, e.g., an image processing apparatus, and to a method of operating the image processing apparatus, for the purpose of enhancing operability.
In an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer (referred to as a “PC” below), an image processing apparatus such as a printer or facsimile machine connected to the PC and application software (referred to simply as an “application” below) for operating the image processing apparatus are used to display a user interface on the PC. The user interface on the PC is operated to utilize the functions of the image processing apparatus. In a typical example of such an arrangement, binary or text data that has been stored in a storage device, e.g., a memory or a hard disk drive (HDD) within the PC can be transmitted by the connected facsimile machine using a facsimile application, and data that has been received by the facsimile machine can be displayed on a display device, which has been connected to the PC, using the facsimile application.
Image data to be transmitted for facsimile purposes can also be entered from an image scanner or the like connected to the PC. In this case the procedure involves the user loading the document in the image scanner, launching the image reading application to read the image from the document, storing the read image data temporarily on a storage device within the PC (or in an external storage device accessible from the PC) and then launching the facsimile application to transmit the image data.
Similarly, in a case where a document copying operation is performed using an image scanner and a printer that are connected to a PC, the procedure followed involves the user launching a copying application to read the image of the document, input the image to the PC and then output the image from the PC to the printer, as described in the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (KOKAI) No. 9-288554, by way of example. On the other hand, an embodiment in which the fact that a document has been placed in a scanner is sensed, in response to which the document is read, is described in the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-93381.
However, in a case where the image processing apparatus connected to the PC in the examples of the prior art mentioned above is an apparatus capable of being used especially as a stand-alone device, i.e., in a case where the apparatus is a copier or facsimile machine, the control panel provided on the image processing apparatus so that it may be used in stand-alone fashion and the image which the PC displays on the display device when data is sent and received are completely different.
For example, a command for implementing a function which is a button on the control panel of a facsimile machine is displayed only as characters on the display device of the PC. Even if the command is displayed graphically, the design and placement of the graphic display differ entirely from the button on the control panel. As a consequence, this approach does not allow one to intuit, in terms of appearance, the association between the display and the control panel of the actual facsimile machine.
Thus, the control panel possessed by the image processing apparatus itself and the control-panel display presented on the PC connected to this image processing apparatus are visually quite different from each other and there is no clear association between the display and the actual apparatus. This leads to inconveniences. For example, consider a case where the method of operation used when making a transmission differs depending upon whether the information medium is tangible (information on paper) or intangible (electronic information), as when information that has been written on paper is transmitted by operating a facsimile machine or when electronic data, such as a word-processed document or an image created by a PC, is transmitted from the PC by operating the facsimile machine. In such case the operation performed at the actual apparatus (the facsimile machine) and the operation performed at the PC are different despite the fact that the same apparatus is operated. This not only makes it necessary to remember both methods of operation but also is a cause of erroneous operation.
As another example, consider a case where a plurality of types of image processing apparatus having the same functions are capable of being utilized by a PC. In this case also the PC displays only the same operating screen, making it difficult for the operator to tell which image processing apparatus is being instructed to perform processing. For example, in a situation where both a color copier and a black-and-white copier are capable of being used, the operator selects the particular output destination depending upon the type of document that is to be output. With the prior art, however, the screen display presented by the PC does not differ that much, the display differing in terms of the model number of the image processing apparatus at best. This makes it easy for the operator to perform an erroneous operation, such as accidentally instructing that a color document be output to the black-and-white copier.
Similarly, consider application software run by the PC to utilize a remote image processing apparatus. The screen display and the method of operation differ for each application, and even if the application is the same, version updates can require a change in the method of operation. As a result, the environment to which the operator has grown accustomed must be altered on each occasion.
Further, in a case where an image that has been entered from an image input apparatus connected to the PC is to be transmitted for facsimile purposes or copied, the operation for reading the document must be performed after first launching not only the facsimile-transmission application and copying application but also the application that is for reading the image. If the PC has not been started up or has been placed in a power conserving mode, for example, the user must perform all of the above-mentioned operations, from activation of the PC to launching of the applications. This is a more troublesome and time-consuming operation than what would be entailed by using the devices such as the facsimile machine and copier in stand-alone fashion.